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ROYAL INDIAN ARMY SERVICE CORPS AMPHIBIANS IN ACTION AT KANGAW [Allocated Title]

Title:ROYAL INDIAN ARMY SERVICE CORPS AMPHIBIANS IN ACTION AT KANGAW [Allocated Title]

Film Number:JIN 8

Other titles:INDIAN ARMY OPERATIONS IN SOUTH EAST ASIA DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR [Allocated Series Title]

Summary: Alligator amphibians of a Royal Indian Army Service Corps General Purpose Transport (GPT) company navigate through narrow waterways near Kangaw, in the Arakan region of Burma.

Description: Two Alligator amphibious vehicles (Landing Vehicle Tracked, LVT) of the Royal Indian Army Service Corps (RIASC) in a shallow chaung (river or watercourse) in the Kangaw region of the Arakan. One of the vehicles is marked '15'. Indian troops carrying timber. A Royal Air Force Republic Thunderbolt fighter-bomber passes overhead. A group of Indian troops paddle an inflatable boat across the chaung. Footage from onboard the Alligator looking at the driver, who has his back to the camera. An Alligator moves off. View from an Alligator of water spraying like a fountain at the vehicle's stern. The cameraman's Alligator makes its way upstream. An Indian soldier with a Lee Enfield No.3 rifle keeps watch; water sprays behind him. View of an Alligator ahead. Brief low shot looking up at an Indian soldier with rifle at the ready. The Alligator in front rounds a bend. Silhouette of the Indian soldier seen before. A fighter aircraft, probably a Thunderbolt, passes low over a treeline in the distance. The Alligators turn towards the bank of the chaung. Alligators come ashore. Timber is unloaded. Thunderbolt overhead. A wooden structure, possibly a length of duckboard, is carried away. View of a sharp shadow cast over an Alligator by a soldier unloading timber; the Alligator is marked 277482. A line of booted feet of soldiers unloading timber. More footage from aboard an Alligator showing a soldier with water spraying behind. An Alligator following the camera with an Indian soldier in foreground. Alligators making their way up the chaung. Aircraft overhead. Wideshot of an open area with treeline in the distance and aircraft overhead.

Notes: Landings at Kangaw were led by 3 Commando Brigade on 22 January 1945 and achieved complete tactical surprise. 3 Commando Brigade were then followed up by 51st Brigade of 25th Indian Division. The purpose of these landings was to form an 'anvil' against which the advancing 74th Brigade and 82nd West African Division could strike the Japanese.
A variety of footage of LVTs being tested can be found in the Admiralty film series referenced below.
Film shot by the RAF showing the use of Thunderbolts to drop napalm against Kangaw can be found at the ABY reference below.
According to the dopesheet preamble 'these pictures help eradicate the popular idea that the RIASC do not venture within enemy territory. As in actual fact, enemy shells were dropped unhealthily close, as the craft are observed by enemy [observation posts] driving up the chaung'.
This film appears on the same reel as JIN 9, but the division between the two is not entirely clear. The length below therefore somewhat approximate.